Workshop
Objectivity and the Practice of Science
Tilburg, 05.10.2010
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Synopsis
Science is arguably among our most successful and sophisticated epistemic
endeavors. But how objective is it? Aren’t scientists and their methods
susceptible to all forms of bias? Traditionally, answers to this question have
focused on the social construction of scientific knowledge. On the level of
individual research, however, other questions might be more pressing: How
objective are statistical inference tools? Can evidence-based medicine keep
its promise to replace subjective assessments by hard facts? Is it possible
to design and conduct a social science experiment that is not contaminated
by the experimenter’s research agenda? How does the concept of objectivity vary over different scientific disciplines? We invite contributions that
address these and similar research questions on the objectivity of scientific
research.
Organizers: Filip Buekens (TiLPS, University of Leuven), Jan Sprenger
(TiLPS)
Invited Speaker
Ian Hacking, University of Toronto
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Program
Tuesday 05.10
9:00 - 9:30
9:30 - 9:45
9:45 - 10:30
10:30 - 11:15
11:15 - 11:45
11:45 - 12:30
12:30 - 13:15
13:15 - 14:15
14:15 - 15:00
15:00 - 15:45
15:45 - 16:15
16:15 - 18:30
18:30
Registration
Filip Buekens and Jan Sprenger: Welcome
and Introduction
Henk de Regt: Objectivity and Scientific
Understanding
Sean Jennings: Objectivity and the practice of Science
Coffee break
Jan-Willem Romeijn: Observations and
objectivity in statistics
Jacob Stegenga: Meta-Analysis and the
Failure of Objectivity
Lunch break
Alexandre Guay: The objectivity of physical theories
Jesús Zamora Bonilla: Rationality and objectivity in a game-theoretic approach to
the social construction of scientific knowledge
Coffee break
Ian Hacking: It is a good idea to try to
be objective, but objectivity itself is a bad
idea
Reception and Opening of the Descartes
Lectures
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Acknowledgement
This workshop is part of the Veni-project “An Objective Guide for Public Policy? Scope and Limits of Data-Driven Methods in Statistical Model
Evaluation”. It is organized by the Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science (TiLPS) and made possible by the generous support of the
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek.
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